Student to Withdraw For Selling Fake ID's

Dunster House sophomore Andrew S. Kuan--who last week admitted to the manufacture and sale of fake driver's licenses to undergraduates at Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Boston University--was ordered this week by the Administrative Board to withdraw for one year, Kuan said yesterday.

Kuan said the Ad Board handed down its decision after some 90 minutes of discussion this Tuesday. Kuan said he will leave for home Monday and will not be allowed to re-register at the College until the Spring 1991 semester.

"They felt that I needed another year to mature and reflect on the situation, "he said. "I felt that once all of the stuff was put into motion, there was really nothing I could have done."

Kuan said he had originally thought the Board might issue him a probation and simply request his withdrawal, in which case he would have chosen to finish out the semester and taken the following year off. He added that he was surprised at the severity of the punishment.

"I think the action that they took was kind of extreme considering that it happened such a long time ago," said Kuan.

Last week, Kuan was ordered by the Cambridge District Court last week to pay a $1050 court fee and to perform 100 hours of community service as penalty for his crime.

Kuan had been arrested by MIT police, after authorities there discovered he had been falsifying motor vehicle documents. Harvard police were present at Kuan's hearing in the Cambridge District Court, but said they had played no part in the investigation of the ID operation.

Kuan's actions were not brought to the attention of Harvard administrators until an article about his case appeared in The Crimson last week. Kuan said he believed Harvard would not have learned about the crime if the article had not been printed.

According to Assistant District Attorney Paul McLaughlin, Kuan made the false Massachusetts licenses between April and May of last year.